Awaken the Artist Within: Evolution

Awaken the Artist Within: Evolution is a five-day creative workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, for anyone who wants to make art in a playful, low-pressure setting. It is led by the painters and teachers Erin Gafill and Tom Birmingham, who bring more than thirty years of teaching experience to an art immersion built around process rather than perfection. No prior experience is needed.

What to Expect

Across the week you move through a range of mediums: torn paper collage, color field painting, observational sketching, acrylic and watercolor painting, and free writing. Erin and Tom guide you through pairs of contrasting ideas, including freedom and structure, inspiration and technique, abstraction and observation, happenstance and control. The aim is to weave them into a framework you can carry into your own practice. Curiosity and a "what if?" attitude set the tone, and outcomes are allowed to surface on their own as impulses become intentional expression.

The week begins on Monday with check-in after 2:00 pm, room keys at 4:00 pm, and a "How to Drop into Esalen" orientation from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. The workshop opens that evening from 7:15 to 9:30 pm. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, sessions run from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and again from 4:15 to 6:15 pm, with evening workshop sessions from 8:00 to 10:00 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. The workshop concludes on Friday with a final session from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Wednesday leaves room to explore the open schedule classes as well.

About Erin Gafill

Erin Lee Gafill is an award-winning, museum-exhibited painter and a fifth-generation California artist. She teaches internationally and is the author of the memoir Drinking from a Cold Spring, a Little Book of Hope and of Color Duets with Kaffe Fassett. Her memoir is the recommended reading for this workshop.

About Tom Birmingham

Tom Birmingham is an award-winning artist, writer, photographer and teacher, and the founder of 26 Letter Press, a boutique publisher. In 2009 he and his wife, Erin Lee Gafill, were honored as Champions of the Arts by the Arts Council for Monterey County and the United States Congress for their community arts and education work in Big Sur.

The Setting

The workshop takes place at Esalen Institute on the Big Sur coast, where the energy of the place is part of the work. Guests stay on site in a choice of lodging that ranges from a shared sleeping bag space and bunk beds to standard and premium rooms, yurts, and suites, some with ocean or forest views. An off-site stay and individual day passes are also offered. Meals are breakfast, lunch and dinner, with coffee, tea and snacks, and guests have access to the hot springs and other campus features.

Highway 1 access to northern Big Sur has been managed through Caltrans convoys at 7:00 am and 5:00 pm each day, which are the only times to travel into and out of the area. Plan your arrival and departure around them.

Before You Go

No experience is required. The fee covers instruction, and a separate materials fee covers everything used in the exercises: acrylic paints, watercolors, brushes, writing pens, collage materials, papers and painting surfaces. On-site stays include meals, housing, hot springs access and classes on the open schedule. Healing Arts sessions such as massage, specialty coffee and tea, alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases are extra.